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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 2014)
NEWS SLANT • UO professor and research psychologist Jennifer Freyd (a nationally recognized scholar and a source for our series on campus rape) wrote a July 14 opinion piece for Al Jazeera America, “Official campus statistics for sexual violence mislead.” In it, she discusses the urgency for widespread administration of expert-created campus climate surveys (recommended by the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault) — the same type of survey the UO rejected due to Freyd’s potential “bias.” The piece notes these surveys are vital because “Victims of abuse are often reticent about making official reports because they fear the consequences, including being stigmatized or not being believed.” Meanwhile at the University of Oregon Confessions Facebook page — which has nearly 15,000 likes — this confession was posted: “I watched a squirrel get raped today. And I didn’t do anything to stop it.” The top comment was “I heard it was consensual until the squirrel regretted it.” • Legalizing weed for recreational use is a brain-boggling topic and it appears many folks don’t know squat about the measure on the November ballot. We’re hoping to clear the fog a bit with a free “Stirring the Pot” panel discussion at 6:30 pm Tuesday, July 22, at Cozmic, 199 W. 8th Ave. The free event is a revival of our popular Brewhaha series that we did in the past with the Oregon Bus Project. How does Oregon’s measure compare to new Washington and Colorado laws? What will be the impact on the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program? Why is Big Pharma fighting legalization? What mischief will conservatives in the Oregon Legislature attempt if legalization passes? Bring your questions. Panelists will include Sen. Floyd Prozanski, Anthony Johnson of New Approach Oregon, the group that got the measure on the ballot, and Paul Stanford of the petition drives that did not make the ballot. Did we mention that it’s free? • The U.S. Supreme Court case decision on religious freedom and contraception might not apply to Hobby Lobby and other closely held corporations in Oregon. According to NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon’s Executive Director Michele Stranger Hunter (and others), the state portion of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 was overturned by the high court in 1997 and enforcement is deemed optional at the state level. Hunter’s analysis has not been confirmed by the Oregon Department of Justice and the federal ruling might be seen as a constitutional basis for exemption from state laws. Oregon passed an Access to Birth Control Act in 2007 that requires insurance companies to cover birth control. We’re pleased to see the Hobby Lobby case is stirring a response in Congress. Sen. Jeff Merkley is pushing the new Protect Women’s Health from Corporate Interference Act, but Republicans are talking filibuster. • Another anonymous comment about the Eugene VA Clinic came in this week (see last week’s Slant), this time from the wife of a vet who says cataract surgeries are not done locally, but referred to the Roseburg clinic, which has a shortage of specialists and “it takes time for everything.” She says the Roseburg clinic is now contracting out more services in order to shorten non- emergency surgery appointments that were once scheduled eight to 12 months or more out. Even with today’s shorter wait, “there are still numerous phone calls, waiting, they do not seem well organized. My husband called the other day and was told they are still trying to find a provider locally to perform a procedure he needs.” She is looking forward to the new Eugene clinic, which “will be wonderful because vets will finally be able to get X-rays, cataract surgery and urgent care done here, finally.” It appears older vets who have Medicare or other insurance have a lot more options for medical care. Younger, low-income, disabled or sick vets without private insurance are at the mercy of the VA system. SLANT INCLUDES SHORT OPINION PIECES, OBSERVATIONS AND RUMOR-CHASING NOTES COMPILED BY THE EW STAFF. HEARD ANY GOOD RUMORS LATELY? CONTACT TED TAYLOR AT 484-0519, EDITOR@EUGENEWEEKLY.COM COUNTY ATTACKS CITY’S PAID SICK DAYS In response to the city of Eugene’s proposed “paid sick days” ordinance, the Lane County Com- mission has proposed three of its own ordinances. After voting 4-0 to move forward with the ordi- nances on July 8, the Board of Commissioners will have an emergency meeting the morning of July 21, before the Eugene City Council’s public hearing is set to take place. The first proposed county ordinance seeks to exempt any unit of local government in Lane County such as Lane County employees from the ordinance proposed by the city, the second to exempt any employer outside of Eugene from the ordinance and the third to preemptively eliminate any other resolution, ordinance or rule from affecting any employers in Lane County. Originally, the first ordinance was to stand alone until Commissioner Jay Bozievich added the other two. During the Board of Commis- sioners meeting July 8, Bozievich said he is not against paid time off. “What I’m against is the mandating of it and a municipality or a government entity exceeding their authority breaching both Oregon constitutional require- ments around contracts and exceeding their au- — LAURIE TRIEGER thority as a board of health and trying to act as EVERYBODY BENEFITS EUGENE the board of health when they don’t have that authority.” Laurie Trieger, campaign manager for “Everybody Benefits Eugene,” the campaign pushing for paid sick days, says that the July 8 discussion was rushed and put together while Commissioner Pete Sorenson was out of the country on vacation. “The fact that so many powerful people would work so hard to block something so modest is significant,” Trieger says. During the commission meeting, County Administrator Steve Mokrohisky told the commission- ers that Sorenson expressed his support for Eugene’s proposed ordinance. Trieger says that under Oregon state law the paid sick days ordinance can only cover private sector workers. “It’s really redundant and unnecessary for the county to be doing this,” Trieger says. City Councilor Claire Syrett agrees, saying that the City Council had communicated with the County Commission that it expected the ordinance to change its language to exempt employees of Lane County after the public hearing on July 21. Yet, in a July 8 email to EW commission Chair Pat Farr writes that the ordinances are “precau- tionary to ensure that administrative rules to be adopted and amended later by the city of Eugene do not preclude Lane County’s home rule (charter) provision.” Trieger says Farr has been among those opposed to the paid sick leave ordinance despite the more than 3,000 letters signed in support of the ordinance by people in Eugene, many of whom reside in Farr’s district. “It gives some commissioners the opportunity to make some pretty grand anti-labor and anti-working-family statements,” Trieger says. The Eugene sick day ordinance and the opposing county ordinances are heading for a collision course that could end in legal action, a possibility that Bozievich recognized in a recent Register- Guard article. “There’s nothing responsible to me to deliberately support an ordinance that will land you in court,” Syrett says. “Elected officials should try to avoid that.” Trieger agreed, saying that Boziviech was not only playing with people’s lives, “He’s playing with our valuable, limited public resources at the same time by admitting this could be opened to legal challenge and that he welcomes that.” Despite the dispute the proposed city ordinance has caused in Lane County, seven other cities, including Portland, and one state have already adopted similar ordinances showing Eugene good examples of what could come. “It never really occurred to me that the county would view this as an overreach,” Syrett says. “I don’t feel like we’re doing anything so out of the box that it requires some two-year process or some other lengthy process.” The City Council will meet on July 21 and will be holding a public meeting regarding the Eu- gene sick day ordinance where Syrett expects changes to be made to the ordinance depending on the testimony. The council is scheduled to possibly act on the ordinance after a work session on July 28. — Kevin Sullivan ‘ It gives some commissioners the opportunity to make some pretty grand anti-labor and anti- working-family statements.’ Lane County Area Spray Schedule • Coast Range Conifers, 335-1472, plans to hire Western Helicopter Services, Inc., (503) 538-9469, to aerially spray Escort, Oust and/or Surfactant L-11 on 60 acres near Swartz Creek, using a helicopter landing pad on BLM land. See ODF notification 2014-781-00754, call Robin L. Biesecker at 935-2283 with questions. • Freres Timber Inc., 503-859-2111, plans to hire Alkin Vegetation Management LLC, (503) 510- 9477, to spray 2.46 miles of roadsides near upper Lake Creek with Forestry Garlon XRT, LV6, Opensight, Rodeo and /or MSO. See ODF notice 2014-781-00755, call Robin L. Biesecker at 935-2283 with questions. • Oregon Department of Forestry, 935-2283, plans to hire Nick’s Timber Services, Inc., (503) 376- 8220, to spray 64 acres near Poodle Creek at Fish Creek Ridge with Rodeo, Accord XRT II, Polaris SP, Element 4, MSM 60, Sulfomet XP, LI 700, MSO, red and/or blue dye. See ODF notification 2014-781- 00727, call ODF at 935-2283 with questions. • LRT 1, LLC, 973-1951, plans to hire L&B Reforestation Inc., 740-4795, to spray roadsides near Little Siuslaw, Letz, Smith, Bear and Wildcat creeks with Garlon 4 Ultra, Garlon 3A, Garlon 4, Opensight, Milestone, Arsenal and/or bark oil. See ODF notification 2014-781-00726, call ODF at 935-2283 with questions. Compiled by Jan Wroncy and Gary Hale, Forestland Dwellers: 342-8332, forestlanddwellers.org 8 July 17, 2014 • eugeneweekly.com
